A Grand Time: The Songs, Music, and Dance of Newfoundland’s Cape Shore

More than 40 years ago, Irish-Canadian broadcaster Aidan O'Hara visited the Newfoundland Cape Shore area equipped with a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He forged friendships and made recordings that have endured a lifetime.

Generously donated by Aidan to ITMA, these unique sound recordings have now been digitised and a selection form the key resource in our latest digital project, 'A Grand Time.' The sound recordings have been supplemented with images, biographies, maps, videos, and research material to help us appreciate the rich musical landscape of the Cape Shore and the enduring cultural link between Newfoundland and Ireland.

ITMA staff and Aidan O'Hara were supported by Culture Ireland to travel and launch the collection at three special events in Branch on the Cape Shore and St John's in August 2018. It was an extremely important and moving occasion to bring the collections home to Newfoundland and also to share this extraordinary story with the world online.

ITMA is indebted to many individuals and organisations who helped us bring this project to fruition, including our principal funder the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon, and, of course, the singers and families who so generously shared their songs and stories with Aidan and with ITMA.